As FDA Tobacco Regulation Nears, North Carolina Senator Disgraces Himself

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As FDA Tobacco Regulation Nears, North Carolina Senator Disgraces Himself

A bill that would allow the FDA to regulate tobacco has survived a critical Senate committee voted and will likely be approved this week.

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Edward Kennedy(D-Massachusetts), would add a 61-cent tax on cigarette packs to fund the FDA's tobacco testing and and expanded children's health care.

Leading the opposition to the bill was Richard Burr (R-North Carolina). His antics were described by the Boston Globe:

Burr has said that he would consider offering his own bill or would use procedural tactics to stall the Kennedy measure on the Senate floor. He also chastised the excise tax increase as a mechanism to finance children's health care and expand the Food and Drug Administration's staffing sufficiently to regulate tobacco.

"The honey pot right now is tobacco excise taxes," Burr said in a recent interview. "The fact is, they'll find - if they implement those - that there will be a reduction in tobacco usage."

Let's take a moment to unpack that: increasing cigarette taxes is bad because 1) the proceeds would be given to sick children and 2) in the long run, fewer people would smoke?

The American Cancer Society says that tobacco annually kills 440,000 people and raises health care bills by $167 billion. Does Burr want these numbers to go up? When people jokingly say, "Won't someeone please think of the children," does he take them seriously and shout, "No!"